Gautam Gambhir’s record as India’s white-ball coach has been quite impressive with an ICC and ACC trophy in each of the two formats, but with 10 Test defeats against SENA countries, the same cannot be said for Test cricket.
It is understood that immediately after India’s stupendous capitulation against South Africa in the two-Test series back home last month someone who cares about board cricket approached VVS Laxman informally again to see if he would be interested in coaching the red ball team.
However, it is learned that the legendary batsman of yesteryear is happy to be the ‘head of cricket’ at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. Although Gambhir’s contract with the BCCI runs until the end of the ODI World Cup in 2027, there is every possibility that it could be reviewed depending on India’s performance in the T20 World Cup, which begins in five weeks.
It is understood that in the corridors of the BCCI, the jury is still out on whether Gambhir is the right person to remain at the helm of the red-ball team for the remaining nine Tests of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.
After a 2-2 draw in the five-Test series in England, India have several overseas assignments including two Tests each against Sri Lanka in August 2026 and a tour of New Zealand in October before hosting Australia for a five-Test affair in January-February 2027.
“Gambhir (has) strong support in the power corridors of Indian cricket and of course, if India retain the T20 World Cup or at least reach the final, he will have no problem continuing his task. But it would be interesting if Gambhir continues in Tests as well,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“His advantage is (that there are) not too many alternative options in the red-ball format as VVS Laxman is not interested in coaching the senior Test team,” the source added.
The Indian dressing room today is a confused arena with a lot of players who don’t exactly feel safe in Gambhir’s regime, unlike the Rahul Dravid era when the roles were defined.
The players were also given a long rope to prove their mettle during Dravid’s three-year tenure.
Shubman Gill’s exclusion from T20 World Cup squad he had Gambhir’s footprints written all over him and it certainly made many punters believe that if the next poster boy of Indian cricket could be thrown by the wayside, the next number dropped could have someone’s name written on it.
BCCI always bides its time when it comes to taking policy decisions and if one looks at the calendar, there will be two months of Indian Premier League after the T20 World Cup.
The BCCI finalists will have plenty of time to make an informed call on split coaching or a single coach across formats after analyzing India’s performance at the global meet.
Going forward, the next two months will be very interesting for ‘Guru Gambhir’ even though he has his backers in the BCCI.
– The end
Published on:
December 27, 2025
